Washington (WBAP/KLIF) – In Congress, negotiators have reached agreement on a new round of pandemic aid that would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefits and $600 direct stimulus payments to most Americans, along with a fresh round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and funding for schools, health care providers, and renters facing eviction. A 2nd stimulus check could begin rolling out next week.
An expert committee has put people 75 and older and essential workers like firefighters, teachers and grocery store workers next in line for COVID-19 shots as a second vaccine began rolling out to U.S. hospitals. European countries are halting U.K. flights, fearing a new coronavirus variant. The variant seems to spread more easily than others, though experts are unsure about that, and they add that there is no evidence that it is any deadlier.
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Meantime as a new, reportedly stronger mutated version of COVID-19 sweeps across southern England, the United States is not among dozens of other countries that have banned flights from the UK.
Canada was the latest to do so in a bid to block the new strain of coronavirus.
A person familiar with the matter confirmed the development on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly ahead of an announcement.
France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and Bulgaria all announced restrictions on U.K. travel, hours after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Christmas shopping and gatherings in southern England must be canceled because of rapidly spreading infections blamed on the new coronavirus variant.
Johnson said Saturday that a fast-moving new variant of the virus that is 70% more transmissible than existing strains appeared to be driving the rapid spread of new infections in London and southern England in recent weeks. But he stressed “there’s no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” or that vaccines will be less effective against it.
